The New Yorker is serializing Truman Capote's In Cold Blood (again) before Capote comes out later this month. Being a derelict reader who hadn’t read the book before, I was unaware that it isn't the kind of thing you can read in chunks, at least not without losing your mind. I read the first section online yesterday and got so sucked in that my evening plans got rearranged just so I could go to the bookstore and get my fix.
I hit three different bookstores before finding it at the Coop, all the while feeling lame because I was asking for a book that was about to come out as a movie. That's like going to a concert and wearing the T-shirt of the band you're about to see. In the immortal words of Dross, "Don't be that guy." Except I was.
There's also the sad fact that, as a former journalist, I should have read In Cold Blood years ago.
*thwack* *thwack* *thwack*
(that's the sound of my mental self-flagellation)
The other day, my officemate and I were talking about how rare it is to find a book so compelling that you can't stop reading at night. For some reason I feel like that happened a lot more when I was young, but these days not so much. So finding a book like that is satisfying on a level I can't even find a good analogy for. It's better than biting into food you know is going to be delicious. It's almost as good as hopping into bed with someone you know is going to rock. But really it's on a level all its own.
3 comments:
Heh - I'm still waiting for the BPL to let me know my copy of "In Cold Blood" is ready to pick up. I *love* the request feature but it's taking a while, as usual, with a popular film.
The last book that sucked me in, as you describe, was "The Kite Runner" - if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. If you have, enjoy your new acquisition!
The most recent book I read that I simply couldn't put down was "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time." Outstanding. Little book. You can knock it out in an afternoon. The friend who recommended it to me has much better willpower, so he read it in small doses, to savor it. I, being the pig that I am, read the whole thing in one sitting.
I also read the latest Harry Potter in less than two days. From the moment I picked it up until the moment I turned the last page, including time for sleeping and stuff, 33 hours went by.
And I recently read "The Secret Life of Bees" pretty quickly.
Have heard great things about "The Kite Runner." Will have to pick that up.
I haven't read it either, can you extend some mental flogging my way?
I did read "The Executioner's Song" by Mailer. Very, very good and sounds a bit akin to "In Cold Blood".
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